By Kristen Zohn
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April 14, 2026
C ostume Society of America (CSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 grants, projects, awards, and honors . "We are proud to recognize this year’s outstanding recipients whose work strengthens and advances the field of costume and dress studies. I am grateful to our committee members whose thoughtful, dedicated service makes it possible to honor and celebrate our colleagues,” says Colleen Pokorny, CSA Vice President for Awards and Honors. Nora Carleson, Vice President for Grants and Projects, adds: “I heartily thank the dedicated committee members and chairs who have volunteered their time and effort to give the many submissions for our grants and projects the attention they deserve. Likewise, thank you to all who applied this year. We know that the application process requires effort, time, and care, and we hope that you all continue to engage with CSA in the future.” All awards, grants, and projects are funded through the generosity of donors to the CSA Endowment . This year, CSA is honored to name Cynthia Cooper as the 2026 Costume Society of America Fellow. Cooper’s decades of leadership in Canadian dress history, her award‑winning exhibitions, and her extensive scholarship have shaped the field in profound ways. As noted in her nomination materials, colleagues praise her “world-class scholarship, and heartfelt dedication to our field and our organization” and her “quiet supportive brilliance which touches all those who are lucky enough to cross her path.” Cooper is also the recipient of the 2026 Millia Davenport Publication Award for Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 , a richly researched and visually compelling volume accompanying her recent exhibition at the McCord Stewart Museum. CSA also proudly recognizes JLN Costume Mounting LLC, founded by Jennifer Nieling, with this year’s Entrepreneur Recognition Award. Nieling’s work exemplifies the essential role of costume mounting in exhibition practice, providing museums nationwide with specialized expertise that “brings costumes and accessories to life” while prioritizing conservation and interpretive clarity. This year’s awards also highlight CSA’s ongoing commitment to service through the 2026 Angels Project, which will take place on Sunday, May 31, at Historic Rosedale in Charlotte, North Carolina. Built in 1815 and one of the city’s oldest surviving homes, Historic Rosedale preserves the intertwined histories of the families who lived there and the enslaved and free African Americans connected to the site. CSA volunteers will assist with collections care and preservation while learning about the house, its holdings, and its historic grounds. All awardees, honorees, and grant recipients will be recognized on Monday evening, June 1, 2026, during CSA’s 52nd Annual National Meeting and Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Costume Society of America Fellow Honor: Cynthia Cooper, Montreal, Quebec, Canada CSA Creative Work Honor: to be determined CSA Costume Design Award: Lorena Lopez, The Busy Bee’s Great Adventure , Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Large Exhibition: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style , The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Exhibition Team: Monica L. Miller, Andrew Bolton, Amanda Garfinkel, William DeGregorio, and Kai Toussaint Marcel CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Small Exhibition: The Life of Kid’s Clothes , Missouri Historical Society, Exhibition Team: Adam MacPhàrlain, Abigail Sarver-Verhey, and Magdelene Linck CSA Richard Martin Exhibition Award, Student-led Exhibition: The Making of Barkcloth: Place, Gender, and Trans-Local Community , Cornell University, Student Curator: Iris Yiqun Luo, Advisors: Catherine Kueffer Blumenkamp, and Denise Nicole Green Millia Davenport Publication Award: Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927 by Cynthia Cooper (published by the McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) CSA Entrepreneur Recognition Award: JLN Costume Mounting LLC, Jennifer Nieling CSA Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award: Isabel Toteda, 12 Angry Jurors , University of California, Irvine Betty Kirke Excellence in Research Award: Anika Kozlowski for Creative Work titled Re-Assembled: The Paper Doll Coat — A Modular No-Sew Coat from Textile Waste Scholars’ Roundtable: Generational Practices: Approaches to Sustainability Across the Dress Discipline ; Jennifer Harmon, University of Wyoming; Sara Idacavage, Southern Methodist University; Katie Baker Jones, West Virginia University; Katrina Orsini, The GW Museum and The Textile Museum CSA Travel Research Grant: Mary Alice Casto, Accessible and Exclusive: The Home Seamstress and Vogue Couturier and Paris Originals Patterns, 1932-1965 , and Daniel James Cole, Dayak by Design: Transformations to Tradition in Western Borneo College and University Collection Care Grant: Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant: Park-McCullough House, North Bennington, Vermont CSA Dependent Care Grant: Danielle Hodgins Adele Filene Student Presenter Grants: Olivia Nash, University of Alberta, and Mansoureh (Sophie) Nikookar, University of Minnesota CSA Angels Project: Historic Rosedale, Charlotte, North Carolina Presidential Award Winner(s): announcement forthcoming Pictured above from left to right: Interior pages from the Millia Davenport Publication Award Winner Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927 by newly honored Fellow Cynthia Cooper (Laura Dumitriu © Musée McCord Stewart Museum); Custom mounts by JLN Costume Mounting LLC for Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism at the National Museum of African American History and Culture; objects at Angels Project site Historic Rosedale in Charlotte, North Carolina
